Twitter

Sharing meals with family and friends has always been a social event. With the popularity of eating out at restaurants, social media is playing a major role in attracting new customers and maintaining loyalty of patrons.

Restaurants use social media to gain feedback and insight on menu items and service. They also update customers with new openings, promote contests, and monitor reputations by using multiple social platforms.

Below are 5 restaurants that are using social media as a menu for success:

Starbucks embraced social media early on and it didn’t hurt that drinking coffee was already a social activity. They offer quality products and promote social interaction with free WiFi in every location. But that is not where it stops. They use Facebook to inform their customers of new services and products instead of trying to sell them something. When Starbucks takes a photo, they post it on Facebook, tweet it on Twitter, share it on Instagram, and pin it on Pinterest. They also have a mystarbucksidea which is an online community where people can make suggestions and submit ideas to improve products and services.

Their unique way of using Twitter involves reaching out to customers that have complaints or negative feedback. They encourage dissatisfied customers to follow-up using a Twitter related email address. Call it tweeting damage control.

Babbo Ristorante is Mario Batali’s fine dining restaurant in New York. They post on Facebook daily with pictures of the fresh fish of the day, uncorking of wine, and behind the scenes from the chefs. They also embrace YouTube and Instagram to share videos and pictures of their food.

Barbbos uses Twitter to notify their patrons of any cancellations and include the times and availability for guests.

The Hard Rock Cafe devotes a whole page on their website to social media engagement. “Get social with 13 million strong” is proudly displayed on their social page with links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, and YouTube. No rock is left unturned. They encourage fans to tag their pics with popular hashtags and provide a convenient upload button.

The breakfast diner chain Denny’s openly invites their fans to “stalk us online”. One can stalk them by using Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and YouTube. They always engage their fans with interesting and creative content and displays their social media in the center of their website’s homepage.

Six months ago, they launched a Hispanic Facebook page that already has acquired 53,000 likes. They maintain a Tumblr page to reach a younger crowd. In addition, they are introducing an animated YouTube series called “The Grand Slams” premiering soon.

Jack in the Box social media presence is for those that “like” fast food and snarky updates. They use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Tumblr to promote their food and the Jack character.

Last month, Jack in the Box achieved a Guinness World Record tile by setting the record for the largest coupon. It measured 80 feet tall by 25 feet wide. The coupon was carried down the street to a Jack in the Box drive thru, redeemed, then hung on a high-rise building. Fans were encouraged take a picture to redeem the coupon and to share the coupon socially on Twitter using #WorldsLargestCoupon.

Is your restaurant using social media to its fullest? Do you have a social media menu for success? I’m listening. Please share.

Do you know how much time is actually spent by people using social media? Day in the Life of the Internetis an infographic that breaks down the statistics of internet users and where they spend their time socially. With over 3 hours a day spend by people visiting social media sites, it only makes sense for your brand to be connected and engaged with customers and prospects by the way of social media.

But, that’s not enough. Are you listening about your brand? If your brand is to be the trusted source of information and products, then you need to respect your customers and prospects by listening to them.

One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say. – Bryant H. McGill

Social media monitoring, also know as social media listening, is all about listening to what is important and responding when your brand is mentioned online.

Social Media Monitoring tools such as Hootsuite, Rapportive, and Boomerang are useful tools to consider for listening about your brand. They help you to discover:

Positive and Negative Comments – Hearing positive things about your brand is great and reassure you that you are doing the right things. But, it is also important to address the negative. Damage control can help reestablish the trust and respect of your customers.

Questions – Monitoring the frequently asked questions about your brand or industry can open an opportunity for you to create content to help answer those questions.

Trends – Tracking trends opens the door for your brand to be proactively mentioned into the conversation.

Influencers – Monitoring social media can help your brand by locating someone in your industry that has a social voice louder than the others. This is a great opportunity to learn from their success.

Links – Tracking who is linking to your brand is helpful for search engine optimization campaigns.

Languages – Acknowledging the languages that your brand is being mentioned in helps your brand by determining the languages required to communicate effectively. This and make it a priority to translate content and/or consider multi-language customer service.

Whether you have a small or large business, you need to be utilizing Twitter marketing. At 140 characters at a time, Twitter has become an inexpensive and effective marketing tool for businesses. Your business customers and prospects are constantly tweeting on a daily basis about your business, products, and services. And guess what? They are also tweeting about your competitors.

People go to Twitter to share what they know and learn in return. Twitter users are hungry for new ideas, opportunities, information, services, and products. If your business is not part of this exchange, you’re leaving two huge opportunities untouched: growing your business and improving it – Jill Duffy with PCMag

Now is the time to engage, promote, encourage, and listen.

How can you use Twitter for marketing your business?

Listed below are a few strategies for using Twitter marketing for your business:

Engage with Twitter Profile

Optimize your Twitter profile to promote your brand:

Use your business logo as your profile picture.

Add your business website’s URL to your profile.

Use your brand name as your…

Twitter handle

Twitter username

Hashtag in all Tweets

Tweet Using the 4-1-1 Rule

Tweet regularly and be a valuable and trustworthy source.

Share 4 tweets by others

Retweet 1 relevant tweet

Share 1 self-serving tweet

Use Twitter to Promote

Promote events, webinars, training classes, and conferences.

Send prospects to event sign ups via landing pages

Direct prospects to call-to-actions via landing pages

Tweet coupon codes

Create Tweetables

Create Hashtags for events

Set up live Twitter Stream for a Hashtag

Encourage Followers on Twitter

Use every opportunity to add Twitter links with every campaign.

Email Newsletters

Email footer

Blogs

Use Twitter for Customer Relationship Management

Use Twitter as a CRM.

Engage and answer customer support questions

Welcome followers

Monitor for Keywords and Hashtags

Create customer lists

Update customers

Thank your customers

Use Twitter to Listen

Listening is the most important part of communication in marketing.

Monitor competitors’ hashtags for negative tweets

Engage unsatisfied customers immediately

Respond with offers for an alternative product or service

Listen to comments about your products and services

Engage unsatisfied customers immediately

Turn negative into positive publicity.

With over 500 million tweets per day and over 200 million active users, Twitter has evolved from a micro blogging venue for non-bloggers to a business marketing outlet. So, don’t wait! Use Twitter marketing for your business now!

What else would you add? How are you using Twitter Marketing for your business?

Like this:

Honestly, I didn’t watch the Oscars last Sunday night. I find the Oscars boring and the hype over fashion and the celebrities just ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out to the movies and I do appreciate their talent. I just don’t find any weight in other actors, actresses, or academy member’s opinion. Since it was my husband’s birthday, I spent the day with him and my family.

This is so true! I tell my step son in Germany the same thing. He is always apologizing for making mistakes. I tell him not to worry about it. At least he knows the difference and aims to improve. Most Americans still haven’t mastered their native language or want to.

At first, this tweet creeped me out. But, when I thought about it, he just admires her and is a fan. Still sounds creepy though. Think about it.

There you go! The tweets above are the ones that caught my attention from Sunday night’s Oscars. Twitter was more interesting than the Oscars. Do you know of any tweets that are worthy of commenting on? Please don’t hesitate to voice your opinon on the Oscars.